Market Street in San Francisco to Go Car Free This Week

Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

San Francisco’s busiest street will soon become carless, at least in part.  Officials are banning passenger cars from the busiest sections of Market Street.

The plan was approved by San Francisco’s City Counsel in October 2019.

The $604 million project, referred to as the Better Market Street Project, will add fully protected bike and transit-only lanes as well as a streetcar loop.  It also calls for the widening of sidewalks the replacement of uneven brickwork with concrete pavers, and the installation of benches and tables along the street.

“The city has developed a design that will support safety goals, improve transit and transform Market Street for our next generation,” the city’s mayor, London Breed, said at the time the bill was passed.

Market Street is a major thoroughfare and transit artery in the city. It begins at the Embarcadero in front of the Ferry Building at the northeastern edge of the city and runs southwest through downtown, passing the Civic Center and through the Castro District, to the intersection with Corbett Avenue in the Twin Peaks neighborhood, after which it becomes Portola Drive.

The first phase of the project goes into effect in the early morning hours of January 29, 2020.

Private vehicles including those operated by ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft will be restricted from 10th street to Main Street eastbound and Steuart Street to Van Ness westbound.  Cars will still be able to cross Market Street, however.

Taxicabs and vehicles with commercial plates will not be impacted by the change.  The city’s trolleybuses and heritage streetcars will continue to operate as usual.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency said that half of the city’s intersections with the most bike and pedestrian collisions are on Market Street.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)